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Fusion of oil bodies in endosperm of oat grains

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Abstract

Few microscopical studies have been made on lipid storage in oat grains, with variable results as to the extent of lipid accumulation in the starchy endosperm. Grains of medium- and high-lipid oat (Avena sativa L.) were studied at two developmental stages and at maturity, by light microscopy using different staining methods, and by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Discrete oil bodies occurred in the aleurone layer, scutellum and embryo. In contrast, oil bodies in the starchy endosperm often had diffuse boundaries and fused with each other and with protein vacuoles during grain development, forming a continuous oil matrix between the protein and starch components. The different microscopical methods were confirmative to each other regarding the coalescence of oil bodies, a phenomenon probably correlated with the reduced amount of oil-body associated proteins in the endosperm. This was supported experimentally by SDS-PAGE separation of oil-body proteins and immunoblotting and immunolocalization with antibodies against a 16 kD oil-body protein. Much more oil-body proteins per amount of oil occurred in the embryo and scutellum than in the endosperm. Immunolocalization of 14 and 16 kD oil-body associated proteins on sectioned grains resulted in more heavy labeling of the embryo, scutellum and aleurone layer than the rest of the endosperm. Observations on the appearance of oil bodies at an early stage of development pertain to the prevailing hypotheses of oil-body biogenesis.

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Abbreviations

ER:

Endoplasmic reticulum

LM:

Light microscopy

M–A–S:

Methylene blue–azur A–safranin O

PL:

Phospholipid

SB:

Sudan black

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

TAG:

Triacylglycerol

TB:

Toluidine blue O

TEM:

Transmission electron microscopy

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Acknowledgments

Thanks for constructive comments by two anonymous reviewers. Financial support from Svalöf Weibull AB, VL (Västsvenska Lantmännen) Foundation, Sweden, and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O.B. 101, 23053, Alnarp, Sweden

    Waheeb K. Heneen, Per-Olov Gummeson, Svetlana Leonova, Anders S. Carlsson, Maureen Bafor & Sten Stymne

  2. Biomicroscopy Unit, Polymer and Materials Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. B. 124, 22100, Lund, Sweden

    Gunnel Karlsson

  3. Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O.B. 102, 23053, Alnarp, Sweden

    Kerstin Brismar & Salla Marttila

  4. Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG-MUG, Kladki 24, 80–822, Gdansk, Poland

    Antoni Banas

  5. Svalöf Weibull AB, 268 81, Svalöv, Sweden

    Bengt Mattsson

  6. Institute of Biology, University of Podlasie, 08–110, Siedice, Poland

    Henryk Debski

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  1. Waheeb K. Heneen
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  2. Gunnel Karlsson
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  9. Antoni Banas
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Correspondence to Waheeb K. Heneen.

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Heneen, W.K., Karlsson, G., Brismar, K. et al. Fusion of oil bodies in endosperm of oat grains. Planta 228, 589–599 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0761-x

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